"I should be so gloomy. I am never bright or cheerful, you know. And I hardly ever come downstairs."
Adolphine's eyes filled with tears.
"It's true," she said, softly. "She lives up here."
"You would be cheerful enough with us, Marietje."
"No, Auntie, I should feel uncomfortable with you ... because I am not cheerful. I should depress you all."
"We are not so easily depressed. And the chief thing is that Addie could treat you regularly."
Marietje gave a pale smile.
"Why won't you go, dear?" asked Adolphine.
The girl retained her pale smile. She seemed to be wrestling with a temptation that opened up soft and peaceful visions in her pale life as a constant invalid; but she did not wish to yield.
"Come," said Constance, "you had much better, really."